Samsung Galaxy S9 Specs: What We Know So Far [RUMORS]

The first major smartphone release of the year is decidedly on the horizon, so what can we expect from the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs? Samsung needs to pull something out of the hat in order to respond to the extremely well-received iPhone X, meaning that the Galaxy S9 could ultimately be a rather impressive smartphone.

Nonetheless, early rumors suggest that the handset will be somewhat conservative, and can be considered an upgrade over last year’s Galaxy S8. Will this come to fruition, or will Samsung instead surprise consumers with some outstanding and revolutionary features?

4K resolution debate

The first thing to discuss with relation to Samsung Galaxy S9 specs is the possibility that the consumer electronics giant will include a 4K resolution screen in the smartphone. This certainly seems like a long shot at the time of writing, as it is generally believed that 4K resolution will debut with the Galaxy Note 9, if indeed Samsung does produce a 4K resolution mobile in 2018.

So this particular proposition can definitely be filed under ‘unlikely’.

Camera

Reports in Korea suggest that the camera included in the forthcoming smartphone and mobile will be the most improved of the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs. Korean language ETNews suggests that the Galaxy S9 will will once again be a single-lens unit, while the Galaxy S9 Plus will benefit from a dual 12-megapixel setup.

But rumors from East Asia suggest that the two cameras will feature variable f1.5 / f2.4 apertures that will deliver outstanding photographic quality. Indeed, the Galaxy S9 would become the first flagship smartphone in the world with such a high-quality aperture – exceeding f1.6 aperture included in the LG V30 – which will result in improved shooting in darker conditions.

Super Slow-Motion

Another one of the most important Samsung Galaxy S9 specs will be the new super slow-motion mode, which has been widely reported in the media ahead of the release of the device. This will enable both improved photography and video capture, and will be trumpeted by Samsung in promotional material for the S9.

New technology

Reports from Korea also suggest that the Galaxy S9 will benefit from a new mainboard design that will enable the manufacturer to fit miniaturized circuits into an even smaller space. This could benefit the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs by the inclusion of a larger battery, meaning that the lifecycle of this device will be larger than any previous Samsung smartphone release.

However, it is also suggested that this Substrate Like PCB design will only be used in smartphones powered by Samsung’s proprietary Exynos technology, meaning that the United States and Western market in general will miss out on this innovation. This would be disappointing for Android fans, considering that Apple debuted this technology in the recent iPhone X release.

Battery

So another knock-on impact of the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs will be the size of the battery included in the device. No specific cell size has been mentioned with regard to the S9 as of yet, but Samsung still has the potential to improve upon the 3,000 mAh and 3,500 mAh capacities used for the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.

If this is then coupled with power-saving functionality built into the Android operating system, the lifecycle of this device could be significantly longer than previous releases.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Specs

Display innovation

However, another of the new Samsung galaxy S9 specs that will garner particular attention is the incorporation of Youm On-Cell Touch AMOLED technology. This mouthful refers to a new innovative display technology which will enable Samsung to reduce both the size and weight of the screen. And there are other benefits as well.

By adopting Y-OCTA technology, as it is often dubbed, Samsung will be able to place the touch sensor of the Galaxy S9 in the top right-hand corner of the device, relocating an aspect of the smartphone that has been criticized previously.

Memory

One of the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs that is said to be frozen from the previous generation is the RAM memory to be included in the device. It is generally believed that this will remain at 4GB in the Galaxy S9 generation. But this won’t be a huge disappointment, particularly considering that the iPhone X was similarly frozen at the 3GB of the iPhone 8 Plus and previously released iPhone 7 series.

Samsung will instead rely on processor improvements in order to deliver a slick performing Galaxy S9.

Processor

Speaking of which, one of the key Samsung Galaxy S9 specs will be the Snapdragon 845 processor that will feature in the handset. Not only will this be a state of the art addition to this mobile product, but there are rumors that Samsung has already signed an exclusivity deal with Qualcomm. This would rule the Snapdragon 845 out of other mobile releases for a few months at least.

The performance of the Snapdragon 845 should be outstanding, and this will lead the Galaxy S9 to be one of the slickest smartphones available on the market. However, leaked benchmark testing of what is presumed to be the S9 device suggests that it will not quite reach the performance of the iPhone X. Nonetheless, it should be mentioned in mitigation that the price tag of this device will be quite a bit less than the Apple premium flagship.

Neural Processing Units

Another of the intriguing Samsung Galaxy S9 specs that has been linked with the forthcoming smartphone is the inclusion of new neural processing units. These will be intended to deliver an advanced artificial intelligence features by enabling the device to analyse, process and store data without using cloud provisions.

It is not certain that this new innovation will appear for the first time in the Galaxy S9 generation, but a report in the Korea Herald certainly suggests that this will be the case. The Korean newspaper indicates that Samsung will demonstrate some of the capabilities of the neural processing units at the Mobile World Congress next month.

Although the AI chip developed by Samsung is still very much in its embryonic stages, the Korea Herald reports that it is already the equal of devices delivered by Apple and Huawei.

Price and release date

Aside from the Samsung Galaxy S9 specs, it has been confirmed that the S9 generation will launch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This event begins on February 26 of this year, and pre-orders will commence just days later, on the first day of March. This means that the release date of the Galaxy S9 has effectively been moved forward by two weeks, as the Galaxy S8 shipped on March 16.

Naturally Samsung has kept rather quiet about the pricing of the Galaxy S9, but we can reasonably expect these handsets to retail in the $700 ballpark. This will mean that smartphone consumers will be able to pick one up for significantly less outlay than the iPhone X, which Samsung will hope has a positive impact on the early sales figures of this critical device.

Certainly the Samsung Galaxy S9 respects look positive, and this will be one of the standout handsets of the smartphone year in all probability.